A Look Into the Most Expensive NFTs: #2 Tezos
Tezos, a blockchain that’s been promoted for creating #cleanNFTs, saw a boom in the NFT space these past few months along with Ethereum.
Although volume has yet to reach Ethereum’s heights, large sales have already been made in the ecosystem with many big name artists and collectors stepping in to collect on the more indie and gas-reduced blockchain.
Let’s take a look at some of the most expensive NFTs sold on Tezos and the history behind those sales.
This is the second piece of our series on Most Expensive NFTs. See our previous article: A Look Into the Most Expensive NFTs: #1 Ethereum.
Reachback // 31,337 XTZ (~$135,000 USD)
With 2 secondary sales hitting 31,337 and 20,202 XTZ in August and September, Reachback is one of the most expensive NFTs sold on Tezos.
The story behind this piece is exciting and started in the usual NFT-fashion on Twitter when NFTBiker, a well-known Tezos advocate, builder, and NFT collector, offhandedly tweets:
The tweet received 3 likes, but scouring on Hicetnunc a day later, NFTBiker realises a minted art piece that looked just like an XCOPY and thought the situation too uncanny to be just a coincidence.
Shortly after, he tweeted: ‘Is it real?’, in disbelief that his musing tweet had not only received a response from XCOPY but prodded him to mint on Hicetnunc.
So that is how NFTBiker picked up this gem for 5 XTZ, and later resold it for 31,337 XTZ.
More details can be found in their blogpost: How I bought XCopy REACHBACK artwork
John Karel’s Window Still Life 001 // 17,000 XTZ (~$73,000 USD)
Tezos NFT history would not be complete without mentioning John Karel. His iconic windows have become a symbol of Hicetnunc art, and so it’s no surprise that his genesis work resold for 17,000 XTZ.
With only 25 editions, yet hundreds of eager collectors, you can now only buy a 001 window for 32,000 XTZ.
His artwork have made history in the NFT world, so much so that it started a viral trend on Hicetnunc where artists minted similarly styled artworks:
Tezzards #1935 // 35,000 XTZ (~$150,000 USD)
Tezzards is one of the first PFP collections that showcased that Tezos could be a chain for large collections. Created by OmgIDrawedIt, a veteran NFT artist, Tezzards quickly sold out.
OMGIDrawedit was already a popular artist on Hicetnunc, with NFTs reselling for over 500 XTZ.
But it is interesting to note that this particular Tezzard sold for 35,000 XTZ because of its rarity. Only 0.02% have its 80s Cyber traits, which makes it an extremely rare (and therefore valuable!) Tezzard.
Crystal NFT by Doja Cat — $188,888
It is very interesting to notice that the top selling NFT sold on Tezos was by rapper Doja Cat, as part of her NFT launch on OneOf last September.
The release included two tiers of tokens and over 25,000 collectibles starting at $5, and culminated in an auction for a single “OneOf” token granting its buyer an all-expenses-paid, VIP trip to see the artist on tour in 2022, along with gold-tier NFT mints.
This whopping number it sold for (close to 200,000 USD!) shows that celebrity NFTs, even more so when utility packed, have a bright future ahead of them.
Conclusion
In just a few months, NFTs on Tezos have continued to break highest-sales records, growing at a rate faster than most other chains. As opposed to profile picture style NFTs popularized on Ethereum, the highest selling NFTs on Tezos are more focused on the art and artist.
Will PFP NFTs take over on Tezos and cause even higher sales? Or will more and more big-name artists join Tezos where the cost of minting is significantly lower?
This is the second piece of our series on Most Expensive NFTs. See our previous article: A Look Into the Most Expensive NFTs: #1 Ethereum.